It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
President Joe Biden says a $15 minimum wage hike is not likely to be in the COVID-19 relief bill.
Biden said he would be open to negotiating an incremental wage increase separately.
"Look, no one should work 40 hours a week and live below the poverty wage," Biden said.
President Joe Biden said he does not believe a measure to raise the minimum wage to $15 will ultimately be included in the COVID-19 stimulus package.
During a CBS interview clip released on Friday, Biden said although he included the minimum wage raise in his $1.9 trillion relief bill, he does not think it will happen due to "the rules of the United States Senate."
"My guess is it will not be in there," the president said. "But I do think that we should have a minimum wage stand by itself, $15 an hour."
Biden said he would like a separate negotiation to take place on minimum wage, and to implement the hike incrementally. The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25.
"Look, no one should work 40 hours a week and live below the poverty wage. And if you're making less than $15 an hour, you're living below the poverty wage," Biden said.
The president and congressional Democrats sought to gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 as part of the coronavirus stimulus bill. However, congressional Republicans, and some Democrats, have fought against it.
Jacqueline Charles, Michael Wilner, Monique O. Madan Fri., February 5, 2021, 9:12 p.m.·10 min read
They arrived back in Mexico without shoes, identification documents or even children’s diapers.
Held by U.S. immigration officials in detention over several days, the group of over 100 Haitian asylum seekers were sent back across the border earlier this week carrying little more than the clothes on their backs, according to immigration advocates and a memo shared with the Miami Herald.
The group immediately stood out as they arrived from El Paso in Juárez, one of Mexico’s most dangerous border cities under a public health measure known as Title 42 that the Trump administration invoked during the coronavirus pandemic, said Tania Guerrero, an immigration attorney in the area.
“Nobody was at the bridge to receive them,” she said. “They were just dropped there.”
Though President Joe Biden quickly issued an executive order halting all deportations for 100 days as one of his first acts in office, information from Haitian government officials, U.S. data and activists indicate the pace of removals has continued at a steady clip.
Less than a week after his suspension order, a federal judge in Texas barred the U.S. government from enforcing the president’s moratorium for two weeks. Officials in the Caribbean nation were notified this week to expect 14 flights in the first half of February — some as frequent as twice a day.
That’s far higher than the two monthly flights U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement chartered to Haiti back in March at the start of the pandemic, and about as high as during a peak period around last year’s presidential election.
Amid an uproar from Haitian activists, the Biden administration grounded two scheduled flights Friday that were supposed to arrive with 135 passengers each. It is unclear if the flights will be rescheduled or if 10 other scheduled flights will continue. The White House and the Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to multiple requests seeking more information.
The removals underscore the challenges the new president will face in trying to push through a campaign promise to reduce deportations and transform the immigration system during a pandemic. Activists monitoring the removals say many are being done under Title 42, which allows federal officials to send migrants back to halt the spread of the virus. They say children and even infants have been aboard the removal flights.
“These are people who are asylum seekers, most of them have not had any credible fear interviews. They are just being placed in airplanes and sent back,” Marleine Bastien, a Haitian community activist said. Deportations come as Haiti’s turmoil mounts
Opposition political parties and civil society groups, including human rights organizations and the Catholic Church, contend that President Jovenel Moïse’s presidential term ends Sunday. He took office in 2017 after a chaotic general election marred by fraud allegations. Though Haiti’s presidential terms last five years, detractors say Moïse’s mandate technically started in 2016, when an interim government was installed for a year before an election redo.
Moïse disagrees. During an unannounced appearance in the northeastern city of Fort-Liberté Friday, the 52-year-old leader who has been ruling by decree since January 2020 told Haitians they are stuck with him.
“We’ve assassinated presidents. We’ve exiled presidents. We’ve imprisoned presidents,” he said, referring to Haiti’s sordid history. “But do not forget, there’s a last president that is stuck in your throats. You won’t kill this one. You won’t assassinate this one. You won’t imprison this one. You won’t throw this one in exile. It is stuck in your throats.”
The unrest has sparked concern among Haitian activists that migrants are returning to danger.
“This is a very fluid and dangerous situation,” Bastien said. “People’s lives are at stake; those who are deported across the border and those who are deported to Haiti, a country on lockdown, basically, are in great danger. We are asking DHS to stop and put a moratorium on all deportations.”
Tensions were further stoked Friday when the Biden administration announced it supports Moïse’s claim that his presidential term does not end for another year. State Department spokesperson Ned Price noted that the U.S. position was in line with that of the Organization of American States.
While OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro has been vocal in his support for Moïse, member countries have not met on Haiti and taken a position.
“The Haitian people deserve the opportunity to elect their leaders and restore Haiti’s democratic institutions,” he said. “We’ve urged the government of Haiti to organize free and fair legislative elections so that parliament may resume its rightful role.” Stateless migrant, children among those deported
On the same day Biden issued his executive order suspending deportations, Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske issued a memo listing the agency’s enforcement priorities as of February 1. The memo said DHS would focus its limited resources on national security, border security and public safety threats.
But the first roadblock came on Jan. 26, when a federal judge in Texas issued a temporary restraining order, barring the U.S. government from enforcing Biden’s deportation moratorium. Though the order blocked the moratorium, it did not require deportations to resume at their previous pace.
Pierrilus, 40, moved to the U.S. from the French territory of St. Martin when he was 5. He arrived in Port-au-Prince aboard an ICE deportation charter flight from Louisiana with 63 other individuals.
“We have seen a rush to deport as many people as possible during the 14 days of the Texas restraining order,” said Guerline Jozefa, the director of the San Diego-based Haitian Bridge Alliance, which works with Haitian migrants along the southern border.
Jozefa was among those frantically calling lawmakers and others to get the Biden administration to ground Friday’s flights.
In addition to the deportations and the expulsion to Juárez, about two dozen Haitians were also expelled to Tijuana, Mexico, on Monday, she was told. The group included an infant, who according to one of the migrants interviewed by the Herald, was transported in the back of a scorching truck driven by a U.S. immigration agent.
Unlike deportations, where migrants have had a chance to present a credible fear of prosecution or trafficking, expulsions of those caught in the process of crossing the border by foot or in cars happen quickly with no interview or due process. They were not part of Biden’s 100-day moratorium.
“Expulsions should have also been included in the moratorium from the start,” Jozefa said. “The moratorium did not provide protection or relief for some of the most vulnerable people under Title 42.”
Jozefa said she and others are calling on the Biden administration to receive asylum seekers with dignity. Activists also called on the administration to halt the flights and for ICE to carry out the spirit of Biden’s reform push, despite the Texas order.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the expulsions of Haitians make up a small fraction of those taking place at the U.S.’s southern border with Mexico.
“Approximately 90% of the individuals expelled in the last three weeks were from Mexico or Northern Triangle countries,” the spokesperson said. “Haitians ranged from 2% to 5% of Title 42 expulsions in the last three weeks. The Haitian flights mostly involve individuals who were encountered within the last week while attempting to cross into the United States between ports of entry.”
Under the Trump administration, Mexico agreed to only accept migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador expelled under Title 42. Neither DHS nor the White House responded to questions about why the Haitians taken to Juárez, and a group that was expelled to Tijuana on Monday, were returned to Mexico instead of Haiti. ‘People’s expectations have to be in line with reality’
Ira Kurzban, a Mami-based immigration lawyer who sued the Trump administration in 2018 on behalf of Haitian migrants, said Biden’s desire to overhaul immigration is running up against the influence of former President Donald Trump and the chief architect of his immigration policy, Steve Miller.
“I think what’s going on is that Trump and Miller put in place a process to tie the Biden administration up as much as they could and I think they are getting the cooperation from the lower levels of ICE and [U.S. Customs and Border Protection],” he said. “They now have the cooperation of the southern Texas ruling.”
Kurzban said the failure of ICE and CBP agents to use discretion on who they deport and how often they do, shows that Biden could be encountering a revolt within the ranks.
“People’s expectations have to be in line with the reality, which is they put in place all of these landmines and measures, which prevent real change to a humane immigration policy and it’s going to take the Biden administration some time to straighten that out,” he said. “For those people who thought everything was going to change overnight, I think they were unrealistic.”
Heidi Altman, director of policy at the National Immigrant Justice Center, said Haitian migrants are not the only ones being caught up.
In addition to Title 42 deportations, which are “happening en masse,” Altman said advocates are hearing accounts from across the country of ICE officers denying requests for leniency “for people who are clearly no longer considered enforcement priority under the new memo.”
“What we’re seeing is an alarming disconnect between the spirit and the letter of the policies that are being issued, and the suffering that people are continuing to endure on the ground,” Altman said.
Biden, she said, needs to quickly move in addressing issues within DHS.
“The last administration weaponized immigration law and policy to maximize cruelty and suffering and they did it quickly and effectively,” Altman said. “And this administration is going to have to act with the same speed and urgency and boldness, but in the opposite direction toward welcoming and respect for human rights.” Rumors fuel migrant quest to cross border
In Juárez, Guerrero, the immigration attorney, said she began getting text messages late Wednesday afternoon that a group of Haitians had been dropped off in the Mexican city.
She said migrants had arrived without socks or shoes. There were babies with dirty diapers. Some said that their identification documents had been taken from them while in U.S. custody. Others were dehydrated.
Advocates said the migrants had been in another part of northern Mexico and decided to cross through Juárez after rumors spread that it was an easier way to get into the U.S.
U.S. government officials have tried to discourage Haitians or any other migrants from coming to the border. Roberta Jacobson, a top Biden aide on border issues, asked Spanish-language media last week to discourage audiences from coming to the U.S. border.
“It is not the moment,” she said, adding that the journey was “very dangerous, and we are in the middle of creating a new system.”
Despite Jacobson’s pleas, advocates said rumors are spreading quickly and many Haitian migrants who have been stuck at the border for months or years are anxious to move on.
Guerrero said the incident highlights the need for the Biden administration to act quickly.
“I understand we’re not going to fix four years in two weeks,” she said. “I get that. But please show some sense of humanity here. Please show you have a plan working forward; don’t give me empty promises.”
WHO?
Graffiti Pops Up in Caracas Praising Maduro Financier Saab Patricia Laya and Alex Vasquez Fri., February 5, 2021, Graffiti Pops Up in Caracas Praising Maduro Financier Saab
(Bloomberg) -- President Nicolas Maduro’s Colombian financier Alex Saab is being labeled “the people’s savior” in new graffiti across Caracas ahead of a key hearing Friday on his alleged role in bribing Venezuelan officials.
Stenciled graffiti of Saab’s face and pleas for his freedom started to appear on Caracas’ main avenues before a court hearing in Cape Verde, where he has been detained since June pending a U.S. extradition request. The mysterious scribbles reading “The people are with Alex Saab” and “Freedom for Venezuela’s diplomat, fighter and compatriot,” -- when most Venezuelans do not know who Saab is -- suggest the government considers the case important enough to try to drum up popular support.
The Maduro administration admitted Saab was a “Venezuelan agent” and said the U.S. was trying to interfere with the nation’s business after his arrest. Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza warned him of his duty to maintain confidentiality of his dealings on behalf of the country if he were to be extradited to the U.S. in a letter filed in court. The graffiti could be a strategy by Saab’s team to turn the case into one of political persecution via grassroots support.
Saab was arrested on the West African island while making a fuel stop on a private plane and later indicted by a U.S. federal court in Florida on federal money-laundering charges. According to the accusations, he has been bribing Venezuelan government officials and funneling more than $350 million to overseas accounts. In 2019 Saab was sanctioned by the U.S. for corruptly helping Maduro’s regime and others make hundreds of millions of dollars from a food-distribution network intended to serve the hungry, charges his lawyers deny.
A legal representative for Saab argued his client holds “diplomatic immunity” appealing a U.S. extradition request during a Feb. 5 hearing at the West African court of Justice.
Saab’s secretive relationship with the Venezuelan government made him one of the Andean region’s most powerful men. In 2018, as Venezuela’s shortage of foreign exchange became acute, Saab worked with members of the government to sell Venezuelan gold to Turkey, the U.S. has said.
“’People’s savior?’,” asked Yanira Rodriguez, whose street kiosk near Caracas’ Petare slum is now in front of one the newly drawn messages. “I don’t even know who he is.”
(Updates with Feb. 5 hearing at West African court of Justice in the 5th paragraph)
INDIA
Nationwide ‘Chakka Jam’ Proved Farmers Are United Against Law: SKM
As the nationwide ‘chakka jam’ called by the farmers, protesting against the government’s new laws, came to an end on Saturday, 6 February, Bharat Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said, as quoted by ANI, “We have given time to the government till 2nd October to repeal the laws. After this, we will do further planning. We won't hold discussions with the government under pressure.”
Farmers in different parts of the country, including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra, had blocked national and state highways for three hours.
Some protesters, who had gathered at Delhi’s Shaheed Park to show solidarity with the farmers’ agitation were detained by the police who had beefed up security in the city on Saturday.
On Friday, farmer unions had announced that no ‘chakka jam’ will take place in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The nationwide call from 12 pm to 3 pm was given by the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee
The Congress on Friday extended support to the ‘chakka jam’
Farmers’ unions have appealed to all the stakeholders to be peaceful
Emergency and essential services like ambulance, school bus, etc., will not be stopped, as per the guidelines issued by the farmers’ unions
Security personnel stand near barricades as BKU spokesperson
Rakesh Tikait gestures during the proposed chakka jam by farmers at Ghazipur border.
Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) protest during the proposed chakka jam by farmer unions, in solidarity with their ongoing agitation against Centres farm reform laws, in Ranchi
Farmers protest during the proposed chakka jam by farmer unions, in solidarity with their ongoing agitation against Centres farm reform laws, in Patiala
Police detain protesters at Shaheed Park in New Delhi.
Police detain protesters at Shaheed Park in New Delhi.
Police detain protesters at Shaheed Park in New Delhi.
Nationwide ‘Chakka Jam’ Proved Farmers Are United Against Law: SKM
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha said in a press note that the call for ‘chakka jam’ got huge support across the country.
“Yesterday, in the Parliament, the Minister of Agriculture insulted the struggle of farmers of India by saying that only one state's farmers are opposing the agricultural laws. But today's nationwide Chakka Jam once again proved that farmers across the country are united against these laws,” SKM said in a press release.
The police detained the protesters who were taking part in the “chakka jam” against the farm laws as part of the countrywide call by farmer unions on Saturday. MHA Orders Suspension of Internet at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri
The Ministry of Home Affairs has ordered the suspension of internet services at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri borders of Delhi, where farmers have been protesting against the new farm laws, for 24 hours till Saturday night in wake of their 'chakka jam' call, news agency PTI reported quoting officials. No Incidents Took Place in Delhi: Delhi Police PRO
Delhi police PRO Chinmoy Biswal said that the “chakka jam” call wasn't for Delhi heavy security arrangements were made because of the violence that took place on 26 January during the tractor rally. Speaking to news agency ANI, Biswal said that that the security was further tightened at Delhi's border areas.
“No incidents took place in Delhi. Traffic movement is normal and the life is going on as usual here,” Biswal added. Entry/Exit Gates of All Metro Stations Open
Delhi Metro authorities said that that the entry and exit gates of all metro stations have now been opened and normal services have resumed. Some metro stations were shut earlier in the day because of the ‘chakka jam’ called by protesting farmers. Won't Hold Discussions With Govt Under Pressure: BKU Leader Rakesh Tikait
According to ANI, Bharat Kisan Union Leader Rakesh Tikait said, “We have given time to the government till 2nd October to repeal the laws. After this, we will do further planning. We won't hold discussions with the government under pressure.” Farmers Hold Agitation in Rajasthan
Farmers protesting against Centre's new agricultural laws and other issues block roads at several places in Rajasthan. Situation at Singhu Border Peaceful, Internet Suspended
The situation at the Singhu border protest site in Delhi was peaceful even as internet connectivity was suspended as a precautionary measure on Saturday, reported IANS. Farmers in Haryana, Punjab Block Highways
Farmers in Haryana and Punjab blocked roads on the national and state highways as part of the 3-hour ‘chakka jam’ on 6 February.
Eastern Peripheral Expressway
Eastern Peripheral Expressway
Eastern Peripheral Expressway
Location: Rohtak Police Detain Several Protesters in Bengaluru
The police detained the protesters who were agitating outside the Yelahanka Police Station in Bengaluru, against the farm laws as part of the countrywide 'chakka jam' called by farmers on Saturday, reported ANI. Come to the Streets and Join 'Dharna': Digvijiaya Singh Appeals to Protesting Farmers
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, said, as quoted by ANI, “I appeal to all those protesting against farm laws to come to the streets and join today's 'dharna' between 12 pm and 3 pm.” Barricading Done to Avoid Any Intrusion: Delhi Police Joint Commissioner
Alok Kumar, Joint CP, Delhi Police, told ANI, “Police personnel are deployed at strategic locations such as Road number 56, NH-24, Vikas Marg, GT Road, Jirabad Road, since it's a call for nation-wide 'chakka-jam'. Barricading has been done in a way that there is no intrusion in Delhi.” Several Metro Stations Shut Ahead of Chakka Jam
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said entry and exit gates of Mandi House, ITO, Vishwavidyalaya, Lal Quila, Jama Masjid, Janpath, Central Secretariat and Delhi Gate have been closed in view of the ‘chakka jam’, despite farmer unions announcing that there will be no ‘bandh’ in Delhi. Drone Cameras, 50K Security Personnel Deployed in Delhi-NCR
Drone cameras at Tikri border and around 50,000 police-paramilitary forces have been deployed around Delhi-NCR ahead of the ‘chakka jam’ called by protesting farmers. Heavy Barricading, Water Cannons Deployed at Ghazipur Border
Extensive barricading measures have been undertaken at the Ghazipur Border with the deployment of water cannon vehicles, as a pre-emptive measure to deal with possible disturbances resulting from 'Chakka Jaam' called by farmer unions protesting against the farm laws, reported ANI. No Chakka Jam in UP, Uttarakhand: Rakesh Tikait
Ahead of Saturday’s 'chakka jam’, Bharat Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait, on Friday, 5 February, announced that the countrywide road blockade would not be carried out in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand because the unions “have evidence that few people would have attempted to spread violence at these places.” reported ANI.
"“We have evidence that a few people would attempt to spread violence at these places. So we have decided to not block roads in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand,”" - Rakesh Tikait, according to ANI Congress Extends Support to ‘Chakka Jam’
The Congress party on Friday extended support to the ‘chakka jam’ called by farmer unions across the country on Saturday.
The party, according to media reports, has said that its workers will stand shoulder to shoulder with farmers in the protest. Further, the Congress expressed disappointment with Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar for defending the farm laws in the Parliament and for attacking the Opposition. Samyukt Kisan Morcha Releases Guidelines Ahead of March
Samyukt Kisan Morcha Chief Darshan Pal shared a set of guidelines that have been issued regarding the ‘chakka jam’. “We appeal to the public in India to kindly cooperate,” he said.
1. Only national and state highways across the country will be jammed from 12 noon to 3 pm.
2. Emergency and essential services like ambulance or school bus will not be stopped.
3. The 'chakka jam’ will remain completely peaceful and non-violent. Protesters are asked to not to indulge in any conflict with government officials or ordinary citizens.
4. There will be no ‘chakka jam’ programme in Delhi NCR, except the protest sites that are already in a ‘chakka jam’ mode. All roads entering Delhi will remain open except where farmers' protest sites are already located.
5. The ‘chakka jam’ programme will conclude at 3 pm by indicating the unity of farmers, by blowing the vehicle horn continuously for 1 minute. We also appeal to the public to join in, at 3 pm to express their support and solidarity with our annadatas. Maximum Forces, Social Media Monitored: Delhi Police 'Makes Arrangements' Ahead of Chakka Jam
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police Commissioner held a meeting with senior police officials over the proposed ‘chakka jam’ by agitating farmers on Saturday, 6 February.
According to Delhi Police, it has made adequate arrangements to prevent the entry of miscreants and will also be monitoring social media posts, news agency ANI reported on Friday.
Haryana ADGP (law & order) also issued directives to SPs and Commissioners in view of the ‘chakka jam’.
"Maximum force shall be pulled out from non-operational duties. Intelligence network should be geared up and necessary preventive action may be taken," it reads.
In view of the violence that happened on 26 January, the Delhi Police have made adequate security arrangements at the borders so that miscreants cannot enter the national capital, Chinmoy Biswal, Delhi Police PRO told ANI.
“We are monitoring content on social media to make sure rumours are not spread against police or other things. The protesters are camping at the borders of Delhi. We are in touch with police force of other states too,” said Chinmoy Biswal, Delhi Police PRO.
talks with India MUNIR AHMED Fri., February 5, 2021, 1/4 Pakistan Kashmir Supporters of the Pakistani religious group Jamaat-e-Islami chant anti India slogans during a rally to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Pakistan's political and military leadership on Friday marked the annual Day of Solidarity with Kashmir, vowing to continue political support for those living in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir and for a solution to the disputed region's status in accordance with U.N. resolutions. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary) 2/4
Pakistan Kashmir Supporters of the Pakistani religious group Jamaat-e-Islami participate in a rally to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Pakistan's political and military leadership on Friday marked the annual Day of Solidarity with Kashmir, vowing to continue political support for those living in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir and for a solution to the disputed region's status in accordance with U.N. resolutions. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary) 3/4
Pakistan Kashmir Children participate in a rally organized by a Pakistani religious group Jamaat-e-Islami to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Pakistan's political and military leadership on Friday marked the annual Day of Solidarity with Kashmir, vowing to continue political support for those living in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir and for a solution to the disputed region's status in accordance with U.N. resolutions. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
4/4
Pakistan Kashmir Supporters of the Pakistani religious group Jamaat-e-Islami participate in a rally to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Pakistan's political and military leadership on Friday marked the annual Day of Solidarity with Kashmir, vowing to continue political support for those living in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir and for a solution to the disputed region's status in accordance with U.N. resolutions. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan will allow people in the Pakistan-administered section of divided Kashmir to decide whether they wanted to join Pakistan or prefer to remain independent in a future referendum on the disputed Himalayan region, the prime minister said Friday.
Imran Khan spoke at a rally in the town of Kotli in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir as the country marked the annual Day of Solidarity with Kashmir.
“God willing, Pakistan will give the right to Kashmiri people to decide whether they want to remain independent or become part of Pakistan," Khan said.
Khan expressed readiness to talk to his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, if he reverses steps taken by New Delhi in 2019 by changing the special status of Kashmir, which is split between Pakistan and India and claimed by both in its entirety.
At the time, relation between Pakistan and India were strained over New Delhi's move to divide the Indian-administered part of the Muslim-majority Kashmir into two federally governed territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh — touching off anger on both sides of the frontier.
Khan assailed India's Hindu nationalist government over the action, calling India a state sponsor of hatred and prejudice against Islam. Since then, Pakistan has refused to hold talks with India, saying Modi must first restore the original status of the Indian-administered Kashmir.
Earlier, Shibli Faraz, Pakistan’s information minister, told The Associated Press that Islamabad would resume talks with India when Modi's government agrees to a Kashmir referendum in accordance with U.N. resolutions.
In southwestern Pakistan, at least 16 people were wounded when an unknown assailant threw a hand grenade at people standing along a road minutes after a pro-Kashmir rally passed through the area, local police chief Wazir Ali Marri said. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place in the district of Sibi in Baluchistan province. The restive province has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by separatists demanding a greater share of local natural gas and mineral resources.
Also in Baluchistan, later Friday, a bomb went off near a government office in the city of Quetta, the provincial capital, killing at least two people and wounding five, police said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, which took place near the office of the deputy commissioner.
In Kashmir, Pakistan has long pushed for the right to self-determination under a U.N. resolution passed in 1948, which called for a referendum on whether Kashmiris wanted to merge with Pakistan or India.
The future of Muslim-majority Kashmir was left unresolved at the end of British colonial rule in 1947, when the Indian subcontinent was divided into predominantly Hindu India and mainly Muslim Pakistan.
India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from British rule in 1947. In 2019, a car bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed 40 Indian soldiers and brought the nuclear-armed rivals to the brink of war.
India has an estimated 700,000 soldiers in its part of Kashmir, fighting nearly a dozen rebel groups since 1989. In many areas, the region has the feel of an occupied country, with soldiers in full combat gear patrolling streets and frisking civilians. More than 68,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict.
Also Friday, the Pakistani military took foreign media on a tour of a border village in Pakistan-administered Kashmir to demonstrate damage by Indian fire. Residents in the area accuse India of deliberately targeting civilians, a charge India denies.
The two sides regularly trade fire in violation of the 2003 cease-fire agreement across the Line of Control, which separates the two sectors of Kashmir. Civilians are often caught in the crossfire, with dozens killed every year in the violence.
Most of the people who live along the boundary line have either lost family members or relatives in recent decades.
___
Associated Press writers Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan, and Muhammad Yousaf from Bhimber, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
US REPORTING FOCUSED ON ISRAEL
International court rules it can investigate Israel and Hamas over alleged war crimes
Sat., February 6, 2021,
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has determined it has the jurisdiction to investigate Israel and the leaders of the Palestinian faction Hamas for alleged war crimes.
In a ruling with significant implications, judges in a pre-trial chamber of the ICC in The Hague, agreed that it is within the court's legal remit to hear war crimes allegations made against Israel in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem and also against Hamas in Gaza.
Six years ago, the ICC's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda launched a preliminary investigation into Israel's actions in the Palestinian Territories, with a particular focus on the 50-day Gaza war in 2014 in which more than 2,000 Palestinians were killed and 10,000 wounded. Sixty-seven Israeli soldiers died.
This new ruling, delivered late on Friday night, allows the court to begin the criminal investigation should it want to.
The decision, based on the disputed legal interpretation that Palestine is a state, was welcomed by human rights groups but condemned by the Israeli government.
Leading Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem said in a statement: "The decision follows the facts of the matter and brings hope towards an end for impunity."
The statement continued: "Further, we hope that the ICC decision will have a restraining effect on Israeli actions, even before the investigation advances - for example in preventing further attempts to forcibly transfer Palestinian communities, such as the ones we witnessed this week in the South Hebron Hills and in the Jordan Valley."
"The court ignores real war crimes and instead persecutes the state of Israel, a state with a firm democratic regime, which sanctifies the rule of law, and is not a member of the court," Mr Netanyahu said.
He accused the court of "pure antisemitism" and said the ICC "refuses to investigate brutal dictatorships like Iran and Syria, who commit horrific atrocities almost daily."
Israeli government officials, speaking to Sky News on background, say the ICC's ruling is flawed and expressed concern that it will make it more not less difficult to find a political resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In Washington DC, a State Department statement said: "We have serious concerns about the ICC's attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel.
"The United States has always taken the position that the court's jurisdiction should be reserved for countries that consent to it, or that are referred by the UN Security Council.
"We will continue to uphold President Biden's strong commitment to Israel and its security, including opposing actions that seek to target Israel unfairly," spokesman Ned Price said.
The ICC tries individuals not countries. But Israeli officials told Sky News that they do not anticipate any immediate issues, like travel bans, for political or military figures who could be placed under investigation.
Palestinians have been excluded from Israel's impressive vaccine rollout so far
A Palestinian health worker gets vaccinated against Covid-19 at Dura hospital, west the West Bank city of Hebron, on February 4, 2021. - The Palestinian Authority began vaccinating health workers in the occupied West Bank against Covid-19, after a pressure campaign on Israel to provide the jabs. Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images
Israel is leading the rest of the world with its swift and effective vaccine rollout. But the country has sparked debate over whether they have an obligation to include Palestinians. Some say it's Israel's obligation as an occupying force, while Israel says it's not their job.
Since the first COVID-19 vaccine was administered less than two months ago, Israel has had the quickest and most effective vaccine rollout of any country by far. Leading the world in inoculations so far, it is the first country where vaccines are truly beginning to curb the virus.
Since the operation began in early January, more than a third of Israel's 9.3 million people have already received at least one shot, according to The Associated Press. More than 1.9 million have gotten both doses.
The nation's vaccine operation is even fittingly named "Getting Back to Life," and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that the country's agreement with Pfizer will allow all Israeli citizens over the age of 16 to be vaccinated by the end of March.
In January he said "...we will vaccinate the entire relevant population and everyone who wants to will be able to be vaccinated," during an update on vaccines.
But despite its success, the country has drawn growing international criticism over its exclusion of Palestinians from its impressive vaccination drive.
In mid-January, the World Health Organization raised concerns about the unequal distribution according to the Associated Press. Weeks later, almost all Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank still haven't received a first dose, The New York Times reported.
The inequity has prompted a global debate over whether Israel has an obligation as an occupying power to vaccinate Palestinian people.
International rights groups argue that Israel has a legal responsibility to extend its vaccination efforts to the Palestinian people who live in the Israeli-occupied, Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza.
But Israel disagrees. They claim the Palestinians assumed control of their own population's health services when they signed the Oslo Accords - a pair of landmark agreements between the government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization - in the 1990s.
According to the accords, the Palestinian Authority is in charge of administering health care for the West Bank and Gaza, while both sides are tasked to work together when it comes to epidemics.
Nearly three million Palestinians reside in the West Bank which is also home to about 450,000 Israeli residents, according to The Times.
Critics of the occupying power highlight the inequity of the hundreds of thousands of West Bank Israelis who are eligible for the vaccine because of their nationality, living among the millions of Palestinians who are not.
"Nothing can justify today's reality in parts of the West Bank, where people on one side of the street are receiving vaccines, while those on the other do not, based on whether they're Jewish or Palestinian," Omar Shakir, Human Rights Watch director for Israel and Palestine, said in a statement to the AP. "Everyone in the same territory should have equitable access to the vaccine, regardless of their ethnicity."
Israel has insisted its priority must be in vaccinating its own population, though officials have said they may consider sharing more supplies with Palestinians at some point, the AP reported.
"We want everyone in the area to be vaccinated, but the Palestinian Authority is the party responsible for providing for the health of Palestinians," Yoav Kish, Israel's deputy health minister told The Times. "Our responsibility is to vaccinate our own population,"
Human rights groups say Israel has a moral obligation to include the Palestinians in vaccinations since the country clearly has the resources to help. Others have pointed to the public health risk of not vaccinating Palestinians, many of whom regularly cross into Israel for work.
"It will be very difficult to ensure full protection of the Israeli population while not ensuring also that adequate vaccinations are done on the Palestinian side," Dr. Gerald Rockenschaub, head of the WHO office for the Palestinian territories, told the AP.
While the Palestinian vaccine rollout has at least now begun - The Times reported that the Palestinian Authority launched its campaign this week, starting with frontline medical workers and using vaccines given to them by Israel - it significantly trails Israel's.
"After 50 years of occupation with no end in sight, Israel's duties go beyond offering spare doses," Shakir told The Times.
After public health experts recommended it, Israel reportedly gave the Palestinian Authority 2,000 Moderna doses and said they had future plans to give another 3,000, the newspaper reported.
The Palestinians also received 10,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and expect to get hundreds of thousands more in the coming months through the global-sharing Covax initiative, sources told The Times.
Many of Israel's defenders say the country simply moved quicker than the Palestinian Authority in securing deals with vaccine distributors.
According to The Times, the Palestinian Authority did not initially call on Israel to include Palestinians in their rollout because they thought they would be able to acquire enough vaccinations themselves through a combination of international donations, pharmaceutical company contacts, and private discussions with Israeli officials.
It later became clear that would not be enough, and the Palestinian Authority started making public demands that Israel fulfill its "international duty."
As Covid-19 Vaccination Sites; League Welcoming 7,500 Heath Care Workers As Super Bowl Guests
AFTER ALL THE STADIUMS ARE OWNED BY THE TAXPAYERS WHO FUNDED THEM
Dominic Patten and Erik Pedersen
Just over 48 hours before Super Bowl LV literally kicks off, the NFL have made Joe Biden an offer he is very unlikely to refuse.
“The NFL and our 32 member clubs are committed to doing our part to ensure that vaccines are as widely accessible in our communities as possible,” league commissioner Roger Goodell said to the President in a February 4 letter made public today (read it here). “To that end, each NFL team will make its stadium available for mass vaccinations of the general public in coordination with local, state, and federal health officials.”
Now, as the good citizens and football fans of the Carolina Panthers, the Arizona Cardinals, the Atlanta Falcons, the Baltimore Ravens, the Houston Texans, the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots are well aware, there are already seven NFL stadiums in operation as vaccine locations. The NFL anticipates getting the bulk of the remaining 25 stadiums online to help combat the coronavirus pandemic within a matter of weeks, a league source tells me.
In San Francisco, the 49ers’ owners Friday said that Levi’s Stadium will become a vaccination site for the general public starting next week – making it instantly the largest site in the Golden State. On the other side of the hurting nation, MLB’s Yankee Stadium just started providing vaccinations today. Of course, having been a testing site for months, LA’s Dodger Stadium shifted to offering vaccinations a few weeks back.
The NFL’s marquee buildings include the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium and the new SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles, home to the Rams and Raiders. Both are mammoth structures but are topped in seating capacity by the league’s oldest stadium, Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI, which holds nearly 81,500. The league’s biggest stadium by capacity is the Washington Football Team’s FedEx Field in Landover, MD, which seats 82,000.
Due to the ongoing health crisis, Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium will have only 25,000 fans actually in the stands watching hometowners the Buccaneers battle Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday’s Super Bowl. With social distancing and free provided PPE kits given out to everyone, there will be, as Goodell noted in his letter to the President, “7,500 vaccinated health care workers from across the country, who will attend as our guests in gratitude for their heroic service and to highlight the importance of vaccinations as our country recovers from the pandemic.”
“We look forward to further discussion with your administration as well as your partners in state and local governments to advance this effort,” the NFL’s always PR savvy Goodell told the Commender-in-chief in the timely correspondence, sure to cast the NFL in a positive light. “Thank you for your leadership and for allowing the NFL to assist your public health efforts,” the commissioner concluded as Biden moves closer to getting his $1.9 trillion Covid relief package through Congress.
There has been no official response from the White House yet to the NFL’s letter and offer.
However, perhaps the matter will come up when POTUS sits down with CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell this afternoon for a pre-Super Bowl interview.
Resuscitating the traditional pre-game Q&A with the network host, Biden’s interview with O’Donnell will run in full at around 4 PM ET on February 7 just before the Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City face-off in the former’s own stadium.
The world is on the precipice of a global vaccine war that could wreck the fight against COVID-19
Business Insider Thomas ColsonSat., February 6, 2021
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The EU may have fired the first shots in a global vaccine war.
European threats to impose export controls on vaccine supplies could spread across the globe.
A leading international trade group told Insider the EU had cast a "cloud of uncertainty" over the world.
The ugly row last week between the European Union and drugs giant AstraZeneca, which resulted in the EU threatening to blockade exports of European-produced vaccines, is an early sign of the sort of vaccine nationalism that could be about to spread right across the globe.
The EU has threatened to restrict the export of vaccines to third countries, including the UK, amid widespread disquiet about the slow roll-out of vaccines on the continent.
Brussels ultimately rowed back from the most controversial part of its plan, which would have seen a border imposed on the island of Ireland, following international outrage, not least from Ireland itself, a member of the EU.
However, industry leaders have serious concerns that the EU's actions will trigger other nations and trade blocs to follow through on similar plans and plunge the world into a series of damaging vaccine trade wars.
They fear that the EU's decisions have sent a dangerous signal to the world that "vaccine nationalism" is an acceptable tactic for dealing with the pandemic.
One senior international trade figure, who asked not to be named, told Insider this week that "the European Commission's move last week had opened a Pandora's box."
They added: "It has sent a very dangerous signal to the world that its ultimate policy goal is to secure as much of the market as possible for European citizens."
One major international business group told Insider that the row had cast a "cloud of uncertainty" over the international effort to inoculate the world's population against COVID-19.
"The signals we've received from Brussels suggest that officials are alert to the concerns we expressed on behalf of global business last week, but the regulations leave open a risk that shipments will be blocked - and, in doing so, have cast a cloud of uncertainty across the global vaccine distribution effort," John Denton, secretary-general of the International Chamber of Commerce, which last week warned the European Commission over the dangers of its approach to vaccine supply, told Insider.
So could the EU's move be an opening salvo in what could turn into a much wider global vaccine war?
Here are the three scenarios that industry groups are most concerned about.
Countries impose export controls on vaccines
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There is a real danger that other countries may now introduce export controls on vaccines produced within their borders to protect supplies for their own populations. The manufacturing of vaccines is geographically concentrated in very few countries, such as India. Any decision by one of these manufacturing countries to introduce export controls themselves would severely disrupt the global supply of vaccines.
Some countries have already demonstrated their tendency to hoard their supplies during the pandemic - not least the US, which last year said it would seize exports of medical equipment including masks and gloves to determine whether it should be kept in the country to fight the pandemic.
Countries impose export controls on manufacturing supplies
Getty/David Greedy
Some of the ingredients commonly used in vaccine production are geographically concentrated in only a few countries. One example is an extract from Chilean soap bark tree, a product commonly used in vaccines that boosts the body's immune response to the jab. It is expected to be used in at least one COVID-19 vaccine produced by Novavax, the Atlantic reported.
The world embarks on a retaliatory trade war
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Protectionism has already reared its head during this pandemic. For example, Turkey was accused by Spanish officials of seizing medical ventilators using parts from China that were destined for Spain, and Tunisia last year accused Italy of seizing a shipment of medical alcohol bound for the country.
The fundamental problem is that there is not enough manufacturing capacity to vaccinate the entire global population this year or even next year. A report published by UBS found that - at current rates - only 10% of the world will be immunized against COVID-19 by the end of this year, rising to just 21% at the end of 2022.
That limited supply will almost exclusively be used to immunize wealthy countries' populations, which have bought almost the entire forward supply of vaccines. But a nationalistic approach will carry an enormous public health cost by prolonging the pandemic and increasing the chance of a new, vaccine-resistant strain emerging.
It would also carry a high economic cost. Last week, a report commissioned by the ICC found that unequal distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine would cost the global economy $9 trillion by extending the pandemic. Half of that cost would be borne by rich countries.
The fear is that in a global vaccine war, all sides would ultimately lose out.
